


What You Wish For

by swordliliesandebony



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 07:16:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8788702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swordliliesandebony/pseuds/swordliliesandebony
Summary: 'It's a funny thing, having a wish come absolutely, precisely, exactly true.'
 
In which Prompto and Noctis steal a few moments alone at the final campsite.





	

**Author's Note:**

> VERY HEAVY END-GAME SPOILERS, PLEASE BE ADVISED! <3

It's a funny thing, having a wish come absolutely, precisely, exactly true.

_Just one more night, to tell him everything._

Funny, in an agonizing, soul-crushing, heart-rending, life-ruining sort of way. The sort of funny that turned your mind to stone and flesh to ice and the dim tent into a wet hot blur. _Funny_. Prompto even scoffed at the idea, through salty tears and stinging, bitten-to-blood lips. It was everything he asked for, wasn't it? Noctis was sitting there, nearly unrecognizable and entirely the same as countless nights a decade before. And when morning came- and Prompto had been informed it would, it finally actually would- he would be gone again; this time with no hope for return. His heart felt so heavy in his chest, honestly -literally- ached, while his stomach lurched with a newly cresting wave of reality.

"It's not right," Prompto made some attempt to steady his voice, focus his gaze. It didn't entirely work. The little electric lantern in the corner of the tent came into focus for a moment, then blurred again. He felt his eyes spill over anew. They were drawn, strong magnets, to Noctis. The light there seemed somehow brighter though, impossible to fix on however much he wanted, "after everything, y'know?" Why even say it? If anyone knew how unjust, how wrong this all felt, it would have been Noct. He was, after all, the one standing face to face with his final day.

"Tell me about it," a hand closed on Prompto's shoulder. He began to jerk away, then stopped himself. He was warm. So goddamn warm. So _alive_ , "that will pass, eventually. You get used to the idea,"

"Like hell, I do," He had to swallow down hard, let his throat constrict against a threat of bile. He'd excused himself from the group earlier, gone to quietly empty the dinner Ignis had slaved over while every part of the world spun, tried to throw him off. He was able to look at Noctis for a moment here, to catch a look of concern. _Pull it together._ Another swallow, a cough, his arm dragged across his face to clear a mess of snot and tears. There would be plenty of time, he reasoned, to sit around crying once it was all said and done. _Or there wouldn't_. And that didn't seem so bad a possibility just now.

"Give it time," there was emphasis on that last word, a weight Prompto wasn't quite ready to bear. He stiffened, tensed when he felt Noctis move, his hand slip away. A noise escaped his throat, something even more pathetic than the sobs he'd been supplying for at least a quarter hour now. He had known of course, through sleepless nights and endlessly dark days, that he longed for even such a brief touch, maybe more than he'd ever longed for anything else. It was a nice trick, he had to admit, the way all the warmth left his body as soon as it was taken again. The tears had, against all reason, halted. He thought to speak, to say something better, to not waste his horrible wish-come-true. But a moment later, Noctis had arms slid around his waist, chest pressed to Prompto's back and beard scraping his shoulder, then his neck.

"There's a lot of things I wanted to say, y'know," Prompto couldn't quite relax, not entirely. But he eased himself all he could, closed his eyes to take in a scent somewhere between familiar and forgotten, to focus on this moment, this feeling. He tried to write it all permanently to his memory- the weight of Noct's arms resting at his lap, the heat of his breath at the nape of his neck, the solid drumbeat of his heart against his shoulder blade. If he could just seal this moment, then maybe, _maybe_... "the words are all gone now that you're here."

"You don't have to say anything," arms squeezed a little more tightly, cheek pressed a little closer. Prompto had to put a real, concentrated effort into not crying again. This was the way it had always been though, wasn't it? Uncertainty pressing a tight seal to his lips, anxiety pressing him into silence. There were a lot of things he'd wanted to say over the years, should have said, was too afraid to turn to words. He closed a hand over his wrist, a nervous tic that, really, said everything he wouldn't. Noctis hadn't missed it though, put a hand right over his.

"I never got the chance to explain," he'd wanted to move Noct's hand away, wanted to pull himself away. Whatever comfort he was given here, the hollow would be dug deeper in a few short hours. His mind shifted, balanced somewhere between 'tear off the band-aid' and 'take every moment you can get'. He was leaning into the latter as he leaned into his best friend, his prince, his...

"I told you back then. It doesn't matter," Noctis' voice was as firm as the brush of lips against Prompto's jaw was soft, "you've always been too hard on yourself," he only paused a heartbeat for Prompto to open his mouth, "don't apologize, either. You would have told me if you thought you could. I know that. You can't keep your head in the past," his voice trailed a moment, a long sigh heating down Prompto's chest, "there's a long road ahead, after tonight."

"Kinda wish there wasn't," Prompto made the admission with a dry little laugh. He felt the way Noctis tensed against him, regretted the words straight away, "it's just hard to picture. All these years, I believed- _I knew_ \- you'd be back. The true king and restoring the light and all that. I didn't doubt it for a second," even when others did, he wanted to add, even when the endless night threatened that he might not even live to see the return, he felt near compelled to point out. He went on without those details though, "it's pretty stupid, now that I say it, I just thought," his voice trailed. His vision was going all blurry again. He snapped his eyes shut before he could crumble.

"Take your time," Noctis murmured, voice a little rough around the edges, thumb gliding and running circles over Prompto's wrist, "it's okay."

"I thought it'd be just like it was back then. Noct comes back, we kick some ass, then we go home and fix all of this. _Together_ ," but that wasn't how it was going to happen. There was a part of Prompto, selfish and sobbing like a child, that wished Noctis hadn't said a damn thing. Why couldn't he be just a little bit more similar, too afraid to offer up the kind of truths that only had sharp edges, that could only hurt, "I can't get out of the past. The time we spent on the road, or before that at your place, just the two of us," and now they were getting closer, and his words were shaking and stumbling around the point he should have made back then, "I'll be alone again. You're the only..." _only what?_ There were too many options, none of them quite right. Noctis was too many things to him, all at once. There was no good, no fitting way to put it, "Do you remember the last time we were in Insomnia?" he changed track suddenly, but not entirely. He felt a hitch in Noctis' steady breaths, his hands going still, "what I said?"

"I do," his voice had lowered, taken on a sadness that's previous absence was only clear by its current appearance, "I wasn't sure you were serious. We were pretty drunk," Prompto appreciated the quiet, clearly forced laugh. The way Noctis had been speaking, holding himself together with this new grace, it must have been for Prompto's benefit as much as his own. Another thing he wouldn't be able to bring himself to say, to thank.

"I ran out of time. I wanted to make good on it," suddenly, unexpectedly, Prompto found himself smiling. A memory so fond, held so close to his heart, it felt like it should hurt. It probably would soon. But here, in the tent for a few final stolen moments, Ignis and Gladio flickering as shadows on one side, it was happiness. A little piece of joy that hadn't quite been extinguished. It felt so impossible, bubbling up from nowhere, from nothing. But he was laughing, just a soft chuckle, but a sincere one, "that was my goal in life, you know. Now you've gotta go be this super-human, selfless hero and ruin it," and there Noctis started laughing too. And it felt so damn good, it felt like being back in the Regalia, back in Noct's apartment, back before everything went so literally to hell. Just for a second there, one that stopped abruptly. Because Noctis had nudged his chin, caught his lips, had put fireworks behind his eyes and some mix of breath an static and Prompto's own heart thundering in his ears. And he had held there, lingered and nipped even when the kiss had ended, pressed more down his chin, giving the impression that he couldn't quite work in enough.

"Don't be an idiot," he still hadn't moved away, not really. He was all but breathing the words right into Prompto's mouth, "you'd already done it."

"Asshole!" Prompto gave his best, most offended gasp. He pulled away even, in mock rage. It was scary, really. How did it make him feel better? How could knowing, knowing way too late, knowing when it would hurt the most, make him feel like he was floating an inch above the ground? They were both laughing now, Prompto throwing an elbow at Noctis' shoulder, then dodging the return strike, "You could've said something! Do you know how hard I was working!?"

"Yeah, well. You're pretty cute when you're all determined like that," Noctis grabbed Prompto's wrist, pulled them both down to sprawl across the tent together. They went quiet for a while after that. It wasn't the heavy silence Prompto had become too damn familiar with, but a comfortable one, not entirely complete. Prompto found his place, that perfect spot, nestled soundly against Noct's chest, an arm slung lazily across his waist while he was embraced from one side. There were distant sounds, some way from their campsite that should have worried him; there was a low, intermittent rumble of conversation from the two outside the tent; and there was the steady metronome of Noctis' heart beating against his cheek. The not-quite-silence was just perfect while both collected themselves. Prompto lifted his head only when he felt Noctis inhale, ready a thought to words.

"And...I thought there'd be more time, too."

 

* * *

 

 

  
_"We'll have to keep it low key after tonight," Prompto was already pouting, even as he crawled up onto Noctis' lap, one clumsy leg absolutely wrecking a line of empty cans on the coffee table. He glanced over his shoulder a moment and laughed, cheeks flush even deeper than the drink had encouraged, "ah, Ignis is gonna flip when he sees all this," he turned back to look at Noct again, catching just a blur of the top of his head while sloppy kisses warmed down his chest._

_"We're meeting him there," Noctis' words tickled warm against his skin and Prompto was giggling again, pressing his own kisses onto the prince's crown, "someone else will have to take care of this one," more kisses, then a rough nip. Prompto gasped, absolutely squeaked out a little bit of delight, "not gonna be easy, though. Spending days cramped in that car right next to you," a bite up near his shoulder now, "sharing a hotel room," sucking, definitely leaving a mark, "not being able to touch... better get my fill while I can."_

_"Hey, wait a sec," Noctis groaned when Prompto lifted his chin, locked up their eyes. They were both swaying and bold from the one-on-one bachelor party (not that Prompto was sure this was how a stag night was meant to transpire), and if he was going to say anything, there would be no better moment. He licked his lips, a little gesture that had Noctis squirming and groaning under him. It was hard not to smile at that, not to lose his train of thought. Noctis had planted his hands on Prompto's hips by now, was pulling him closer on his perch. Now or never._

_"You ever been in love?" Prompto's question had them both going still. Somewhere, sober Prompto was screaming his agony at such a question. Happily drunk Prompto was blushing and grinning and nudging Noct's shoulder, "Well?"_

_"Ah, I..."_

_"You're gonna be," the confidence in Prompto's voice surprised himself as much as it seemed to the man beneath him, "we've got a few weeks, right? I think I can make it happen. By the end of it, you'll be in love with me."_

_"That's what you want?" Noctis was moving beneath him again, pulling and all but begging for more contact, to get back to the task at hand._

_"Well, I think it's only fair, since you've gone and made me fall for you," he touched a clumsy finger to the tip of Noct's nose, then leaned down to replace it with a kiss, "all that unrequited stuff isn't as fun as you'd think. I'm more of a 'hopeless mutual longing' kind of guy," he was relieved to get a chuckle out of it. Noctis stopped moving for a moment though, looked like he was considering the prospect just a bit more deeply than Prompto might have hoped. He was ready to open his mouth with a properly fake, 'just kidding' when he nodded._

_"Alright. I'll hold you to it. Better get to work now, though. You don't have a whole lot of time."_


End file.
